STYLE360 February 2013 Designer Profiles

Boy Meets Girl® founder, Stacy Igel, began her career at the ripe old age of 4, styling her pre–K classmates and staging fashion shows in her school's cafeteria. Igel honed her skills further working with iconic brands and personalities such as Izod, Elie Tahari, Zandra Rhodes and Elsa Klensch, Igel founded Boy Meets Girl®, an edgy yet wearable, stylish yet casually classic young contemporary brand.

Boy Meets Girl has been featured in premier publications like InStyle, Teen Vogue, Lucky, People, Cosmopolitan, Seventeen and the New York Times, and has been photographed and on high-profile fashionistas like Eva Mendes, Nina Dobrev, Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Hudgens, Michelle Williams and Kristen Bell. The brand is the official staff uniform for the exclusive members-only club, The SoHo House.

Igel is also the producer and host ofon Lockerz.com, where she is the site's Chief Fashion Editor and Stylist. Igel is also the producer and host of Behind the Seam™ with Stacy Igel. Projects currently in development include a lifestyle news and reality series for a major television network and a foray into cosmetics with a television retail partner. Igel has received numerous design awards and honors, and is a frequent lecturer and panelist on subjects including social media, branding and entrepreneurship.

Connect with Stacy and Boy Meets Girl® at these various internet chill zones:

If you have watched the Super Bowl, VMA, AMA or any award show, red carpet or music video in the past 10 years you've most likely seen the work of fashion designer and stylist Ashton Hirota and his Ashton Michael Label. Born and raised in Los Angeles Hirota made his debut on the fashion scene at the age of 19 when his first showing in LA Fashion Week resulted in being picked up by destination stores including Patricia Fields NYC, Fred Segal LA, and Volcan & Aphrodite in Tokyo. A decade later Hirota continues his progressive movement with his current company Ashton Michael. Offering exclusive capsule collections, wardrobe styling and custom one-of-a-kind pieces combined with artistic vision and a true understanding of fit and fabrication, Hirota creates clothing that is tailored for any and every personality and public image.

Featured on clients ranging from American Idol to icons of Hollywood and music, Hirota has designed custom pieces for celebrities as diverse as Will.i.am, Usher, Nicki Minaj, Chris Brown, Alex Clare, Regina Spektor, and Pitbull just to name a few. Today in addition to designing and producing his own Ashton Michael Label, Hirota is sought out by top stylist and chart topping artists for his ability to create fashion forward pieces individualized for each clients personality and public image with one of the industries quickest turn around times available. Hirota is a strong believer that there is no gender in creative expression, just individuality.

Ashton Michael design headquarters and showroom is located in the heart of Hollywood, CA under the roof of "The House of Infinite Radness." Available by appointment only to industry professionals, the showroom caters to those looking for unique, one-of-a-kind pieces. Purchases and rentals are available with full option to alter or customize any piece in house and one on one consultation is available with the designer himself.

Junk Food Art House
(www.junkfoodclothing.com)

Junk Food Art House is an exciting new apparel platform by Junk Food, the original vintage t-shirt company. With its pulse on creative content from around the globe, art is and always has been at the heart of Junk Food. Highlighting the brand's creative ingenuity and original core values, Junk Food Art House engages the art community through a carefully-curated program of creative initiatives spanning art, film and fashion. Presenting a unique approach to the concept of artist collaborations, Junk Food Art House celebrates well-established names as well as rising talent through limited-edition product releases, innovative pop-up spaces, special events and unique partnerships.

Tumbler and Tipsy
(www.tumblerandtipsy.com)

Michael Kuluva Bio
From a young age, Michael Kuluva worked his way up to become one of the youngest, most talented and recognized names in professional figure skating history, touring in over 600 cities and 40 countries. Now, he is conquering the world of fashion with his brand, Tumbler & Tipsy, launched back in 2009. Michael Kuluva studied design from his extensive schooling at FIDM and is a designer and stylist to musicians, red carpet celebrities and Olympic athletes. Developing personal connections with stars such as Kendall Jenner, Alex Morgan, Kylie Jenner, Kris Jenner, Lance Bass, Traver Rains, and Cher Lloyd, Michael Kuluva has accomplished himself as a professional and respectable name in today's global fashion industry.

The artist behind the glitz and glamour of Tumbler & Tipsy is Michael Kuluva who embraces a completely hands-on approach. Michael is the first designer to collaborate with an international top selling video software company to produce runway fashions at New York Fashion Week. This brand is influenced by glamour yet designed with comfort in mind. Kuluva has created a show-stopping, jaw-dropping collection that is unique in its form, exclusive in its style and extraordinary in its appearance. Tumbler & Tipsy is quickly paving its way to the forefront of todays global fashion scene.

Front Row

The hierarchy of the fashion world operates aroundone notion-making the cut. Meaning, are you "In crowd," "Out crowd," the A-list, B-List, the "Restricted," the "Uninhibited" or ...the coveted "Front Row?"

Front Row is an innovative luxe brand that represents front-of-the-line privilege. The clothing is meant for fashion lovers and leaders - the confident, the gracious and the faithful.

Front Row Creator Shateria Moragne-EL has been involved in fashion and the performing arts most of her life. The Maryland native attended the Baltimore School for The Arts where she focused on ballet and modern dance. Soon after, Moragne-EL decided to flex her creative muscle in a different arena - the world of fashion. She worked as a personal stylist and consultant, providing creative direction on a variety of projects, lookbooks and catalogues.

Knowing a thing or two about Front Row life, she decided to create a line that would make her consumers feel the same way. Her clothing and designs ensure comfort, confidence and appeal. Front Row represents unmatched style and freedom - inspiring its consumers to be seen on the scene and never settle for anything less than the Front Row.

Julius LaCour Jr. was born in New Orleans, LA in 1985. From a young age, Julius dared to be different. He fell in love with fashion and wanted to dress like the models and icons he saw in the magazines. Since he couldn't afford the designer clothes he wanted, Julius decided to create his own designs. At age 13 he taught himself to sew, reworking the clothes he already owned and turning them into unique and daring creations.

Julius knew that he wanted to turn his passion into a career and enrolled in the Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago to further his technical skills. Julius created his first fashion label, JuJu Blase,'while still a student.

In 2007, Julius was asked by Vassar Magazine.com to be featured as a designer. Impressed with what they saw, Vassar Magazine asked Julius to intern as a fashion head. He took on a second internship in 2008 with Chicago designer Agga B. Raya to deepen his practical knowledge of the fashion industry. "I created Maison de LaCour with one mission- to use fashion to break the rules set by society."

After he graduated, Julius shaved off his hair, deciding it was time for a drastic change. He also thought it was time for his label to reflect this new, edgier aesthetic. Julius changed the name of his label to Maison de LaCour in 2009. Maison de LaCour was founded with the purpose of expressing individualism. Each piece was unique, created by hand. Julius felt that with each garment he was giving the customer a part of himself. Julius's talent has been recognized by the Chicago fashion community. In 2010, only a year after starting his line, he showed his collection in Latino Fashion Week and won the CS Magazine Italian Expo Competition. In 2011, Julius did a solo fashion show to a packed house at the Drake Hotel.

Today, Julius continues to develop his line pushing the boundaries of fashion and challenging the people's perceptions. As he says. "What's wrong with a man in a skirt? Why is a women in baggy clothes not considered sexy?" Julius also combines couture finishing techniques with explorations of themes many believe are taboo, bringing to light such as minority subcultures and nudity. This juxtaposition creates a unique, dynamic line unlike other labels on the market. For Julius, this is a dream come true. "If you think couture is a dream, then grab a piece of it. Dreams are meant to be followed."

VOZ
(www.madebyvoz.com)

We believe that true luxury is more than just a brand name. The rare luxury of time is woven into each one of VOZ' hand-made pieces, celebrating centuries of artistic indigenous traditions. Our lush natural fibers are of unparalleled quality, sourced locally and dyed naturally for minimal environmental impact.

Designers:
Lorena Mardones
Lorena is fashion Designer trained in Haute Couture at AIEP Santiago, Chile where she studied under Luciano Brancoli. She has crafted Haute Couture for exclusive clients, and exhibited at renowned events, on the runways of Santiago de Moda, Viña de Moda, and Luciano Brancoli. She directs VOZ' fashion design, pattern making, production, material sourcing, quality control, and operations in Southern Chile.

Jasmine Aarons:
A quest for significance and community inspired Jasmine to pursue ceremonial craftwork throughout her design career. After studying Mechanical Engineering in Product Design at Stanford University, she felt that product design could solve many consequences of global consumerism by incorporating lessons of indigenous craft. Craft culture that prioritizes cultural exchange, produces to respect the environment, and facilitates human connection in its trade, provide critical wisdom for today's rapid consumption global culture. After an investigation of the designs of Peruvian Quero shamans, Jasmine realized that many traditional artisans struggled to compete within saturated craft marketplaces, often filled with foreign-made copies of traditional artwork sold at knockoff prices. Observing that products sell for style and quality before their social message, she founded VOZ to bring the marketability of fashion to fair trade. Jasmine wanted to offer design tools to help artisans create unique products that allowed them to profit in contemporary marketplaces. Enabled by a Stanford Haas Post Graduate Fellowship, she partnered with a community of Mapuche artisans in Southern Chile over three years to develop the VOZ model. The result: extensive research and insights on the fair trade and eco market, the creation of a collaborative design workshop model in which the designers help develop artisans' ideas into final products, product creation, community building, and a new type of social business model. Jasmine cultivated vast networks with artisans, buyers, advisers, and teammates, and developed a fair trade and sustainable production chain to found VOZ in 2011. As the Design Director & CEO, Jasmine steers VOZ's creative vision, product development and international operations.

YARNZ
(www.yarnz.com)

New York City-based accessories brand, Yarnz, established itself by reinventing the classic scarf. In 2005, realizing the need for newness in the accessories market, Yarnz debuted what was then a novel concept: cashmere scarves screen-printed with pop prints, bold colors and imaginative designs.

Yarnz is renowned for pushing design boundaries, breaking tradition and transforming the contemporary scarf category. Theme based collections are inspired by trends, icons, and travel. When wrapped around the neck, the scarves are style statements and upon closer inspection reveal inventive designs or cheeky takes on culture. The conversation starters have included Mick Jagger in Munch's "The Scream," Karl Lagerfeld proclaiming "Chic" in response to the ubiquitous Obama "Hope" poster, and Naomi Campbell as "Attack of the Glamazon!" Cool, quirky limited editions are wide-ranging and unexpected. Banana split recipes, daisies and camouflage, and dollhouse blueprints have all appeared in Yarnz collections. The designs have been spotted on Scarlett Johansson, Blake Lively, Elizabeth Olsen, Emma Roberts and Emma Watson.

The brand is sold at top retailers including Bergdorf Goodman, Henri Bendel, Kirna Zabete and Saks Fifth Avenue in New York, Bon Marché and Colette in Paris, Barneys Japan and Liberty of London, as well as leading sites Net-a-Porter and Shopbop. Prices range from $75 for cotton/linen scarves to $225 for an oversized cashmere design.